Non-replication of neurophysiological predictors of non-response to rTMS in depression and neurophysiological data-sharing proposal

Dear Editor,
The application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has been shown to be effective when applied to either the right or left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in placebo controlled studies [1,2] as well as open-label studies [3]. Given the effectiveness of rTMS as a treatment for MDD, the interest for finding clinical or (neuro)physiological predictors has been increasing. In 2012, we [4] reported neurophysiological predictors of non-response (NR) for rTMS treatment in MDD. These predictors included the EEG metrics: increased fronto-central theta, a low individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF), and a large P300 amplitude at site location Pz in a sample of 90 MDD patients, however these biomarkers still require replication. The aim of the current study is to investigate the replicability of these findings in a newly collected sample, and also to make our EEG and ERP data available to scientific use for replication analyses that have specific formulated hypotheses, and thus facilitating future replication studies.